Manny Machado Walks Off Yanks In Baltimore Win; Jose Martinez Powers Cardinals Over Padres

Players of the Day for Tuesday, September 5, 2017

American League

Baltimore third baseman, Manny Machado, kept Oriole hopes alive with a two-out, bottom of the ninth two-run homer, defeating the New York Yankees, 7-6, at Camden Yards.

Machado walks off Yanks

Machado's blast capped a multi-inning, five run comeback after the Yankees scored six runs in the third inning to lead 6-1. The Orioles countered with home runs, the first, a solo shot by Machado in the bottom of the third, followed by another solo belt by Jonathan School in the fifth and Mark Trumbo's two-run blast in the sixth.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore relief corps kept the Yankees off the scoreboard for the final six innings, setting up Machado's dramatic finale.

Machado has been on a tear of late, batting .341 with 12 homers and 35 RBI in August. So far in September he's at .381, with two homers and three RBI. After a slow start, Machado is approaching the league leaders. He has 32 home runs and 91 RBI.

The victory moved the Orioles to within one game of the second wild card, now held by the LA Angels, who took over from Minnesota and lead the Twins by 1/2 game. The Angels outlasted the A's, 8-7, in 10 innings, while the Twins lost, 2-1, at Tampa Bay. The Yankees still are in the top wild card position, with a 2 1/2 game lead over the Angels.

Game three of the series in Baltimore is slated for a 7:05 start on Wednesday.

National League

Martinez: hot rookie

With their third straight win, the St. Louis Cardinals continue to creep upward in the wild card standings, their 8-4 victory at San Diego Tuesday has them three games behind Colorado for the second wild card spot, with Milwaukee squeezed in between, 2 1/2 out.

Rookie first baseman, Jose Martinez, was once again the catalyst, going 3-for-3 with a double, two home runs and three RBI. Martinez socked a two-run homer in the first inning, doubled and scored in the third and pounded a solo shot in the seventh for good measure.

Hitting his best stride when it counts most, Martinez has a seven game hitting streak going and is batting a sizzling .563 (9-for-16) in September with three home runs and six RBI. On the season, the 6'6" Martinez has a .310 batting average, 13 home runs and 34 RBI in just 203 at bats.

St. Louis will seek to extend their winning ways in game three of the four-game series in San Diego, Wednesday at 7:10 pm PT.

STREAKING: The Cleveland Indians extended their winning streak to 13 straight Tuesday with a 9-4 win over the White Sox. It's the longest streak in the majors this year and has the Indians up 11 games in the AL Central. In the West, Houston has won six straight.

Arizona won its 12th straight, topping the Dodgers, 3-1. First place Los Angeles has lost five straight but still leads the NL West by a cool 11 1/2 games.